Sixers Continue Preparation For Upcoming Draft

Trips half-way around the world. Numerous meetings and conference calls. Compiling ratings.

And that’s just the start.

For the Philadelphia 76ers, preparing for the upcoming NBA Draft is a year-long process that involves spending a great deal of time on the phones and even more time on the road, scouting players all over the country and the world.

Over the next seven weeks, President Billy King, Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations Tony DiLeo and the basketball operations staff will continue to pore over all the information they’ve gathered to date, while continuing to acquire even more.

“Right now we are calling a lot of coaches and getting background information on the players who are in the draft and we are studying a lot of film,” DiLeo said. “It’s a good time to study, analyze and pinpoint strengths and weaknesses of these players.”

In addition to watching video of international prospects, the nation’s top college seniors and this year’s early entrants, the Sixers dedicate a great deal of time on exhaustive scouting of all the potential draft picks – which includes looking beyond just the skills these players possess on the court. The team performs extensive background checks, studies how the players interact with their team mates and communicates with former college coaches and officials.

“On May 22 we will know our definite order in the draft and we’ll be able to see players that are in our range. As we speak, we are also setting up workouts and because we have three first-round picks we will end up having 30 or more players workout,” DiLeo said.

Per NBA rules, the team cannot bring individual players into Philadelphia for these workouts until after the Orlando pre-draft camp, which runs from May 29 through June 4. But the evaluation continues once they are in town, at which point the players will sit down for interviews with the front office staff, meet with team psychologist Dr. Joel Fish and then get on the court to work out at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM).

The extensive research, along with continuous meetings between King, DiLeo and the rest of the staff is all geared toward the Sixers’ philosophy on draft night: Target the best player available.

“First, we try to identify the best players in the draft and try to go after them. Having three first-round picks and a second-round pick, we have more chips to be able to go after some players we like. If that’s not possible and we draft at our position, we’ll take the best player available.

We feel that we need to accumulate talent, as much talent as we can, so we will go after the best player at our pick.”

It as that point that all the hard work, miles spent on the road and the hours put in studying film pays dividends.

Coming next week: Question and answer session with Sixers Director of Player Personnel Courtney Witte

Log on to www.sixers.com for continued coverage of the 2007 NBA Draft.

Sixers Notes:
Some key dates to remember include the NBA Draft Lottery on May 22 in Secaucus, NJ. The Sixers currently hold the 12th pick in the lottery (to see tiebreakers, click here), as well as the 21st and 30th picks in the first round. … Beginning next week, a new feature titled “Catching up with the Sixers” will appear on Sixers.com. The first installment will be penned by forward Kyle Korver. … Several members of the 76ers will be participating in the NBA’s “Basketball without Borders” initiative this summer, including Korver, center Samuel Dalembert, Assistant Coach Jim Lynam and Director of Basketball Administration Allen Lumpkin.